Glossary of Academic Terms
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Jump to navigationJump to searchThis glossary is intended to help students understand and use common academic terms. You can download it as a pdf here: Academese Glossary for HMA folk(PDF)
Academese Glossary
| Academese term | Definition | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Analogous translation | Translation that takes phrases and context into account | Also metaphrase |
| Book | A volume, or a section of a text | |
| Codex / codices | A bound book in the modern sense | |
| Collation | The organisation of signatures or quires in a codex | |
| Copperplate | A method of printing images by etching them into copper plates | |
| Diacritic | Marks used to distinguish similar letters (e.g. e, ë) | The ¨ is a diacritic |
| Diplomatic (transcription) | A transcription recording the characters on the page as exactly as possible | Without expanding abbreviations or modernising punctuation |
| Edition | A version of a treatise or book | |
| Facsimile | An exact copy of a work | |
| Foliation | The ordering of leaves in a codex | |
| Folio | A single leaf of a book | Also a size reference (approx. 9×12″ or 23×30 cm) |
| Illuminated | Manuscripts only: has coloured images | |
| Illustrated | Has drawings | |
| Incunable / incunabulum / incunabula | A book printed before 1500 | |
| Literal translation | A word-by-word translation | Also metaphrase |
| Manuscript | A text written by hand | |
| Metaphrase | A word-by-word translation | Also literal translation |
| Octavo | A book size: one sheet folded three times | Usually approx. octavo format |
| Palaeography / palaeographer | The study of old texts and writing methods | |
| Palimpsest | A manuscript that has been erased and written over | |
| Paraphrase | Translation that takes phrases and context into account | Also analogous translation |
| Parchment | Rawhide prepared for writing on | |
| Quarto | A book size: one sheet folded twice | Usually approx. 4.5×6″ or 12×15 cm |
| Rubric | Red text, especially chapter headings | |
| Scroll | A text rolled into a tube for storage | |
| Syntax | The rules of sentence structure | |
| Transcription | A copy of a text from one form to another | e.g. manuscript to typed |
| Translation | Translating | |
| Treatise | A systematic treatment of a subject | |
| Undertext | The deleted but recoverable text on a palimpsest | |
| Vellum | Rawhide prepared for writing on | |
| Volume | A single bound book | |
| Woodcut | A method of printing images by carving them into wooden plates |
